Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 982 Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,696 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Caterpillar were worth $5,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CAT. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Caterpillar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new position in Caterpillar in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Caterpillar from $335.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $375.00 to $373.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Caterpillar from $325.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Caterpillar from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $300.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caterpillar has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.92.

Caterpillar Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CAT traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $350.01. 538,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,596,049. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Caterpillar Inc. has a 1-year low of $267.30 and a 1-year high of $418.50. The company has a market cap of $164.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $319.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $350.35.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.10). Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 21st were given a $1.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Caterpillar's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 375 shares of Caterpillar stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $320.70 per share, for a total transaction of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. This represents a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Caterpillar Company Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.